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T O P I C R E V I E W

heng44

A special holiday Photo of the Week feature concerning the recycled Gemini EVA hatch that was used on Skylab.

This photo shows assembly of Airlock Module at McDonnell-Douglas in 1970. The hatch isn't in place yet, but its location is obvious.

Skylab 4 commander Jerry Carr is seen during EVA training in a Skylab mockup, with the Airlock Module hatch open.

heng44

This Skylab 2 photo was taken through the EVA hatch window, as Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin were preparing to deploy the stuck solar wing in June 1973.

And finally a Skylab 4 EVA photo, taken by Jerry Carr from the Apollo Telescope Mount, showing the location of the hatch. Ed Gibson can barely be seen near the open hatch at bottom right.

These photos (and much more) can be found in high-res on the Retro Space Images DVDs covering the Skylab missions. Skylab 1 is available and the others are nearing completion.

Merry Christmas!Ed Hengeveld

Henry Heatherbank

Ed, you have excelled yourself. This is exactly what I was after!!

Merry Xmas and thanks.

space1

I had no idea that Skylab used foot restraints apparently identical to those we have seen on the Space Shuttle. Thanks for the education, Ed.

Lou Chinal

Foot restraints were used on Apollo 9 by Rusty Schweickart. They were know as "Golden Slippers" then.

space1

But the Apollo 9 foot restraints were more like the type pioneered with Gemini XII. This Skylab foot restraint is not that slipper form, but a toe insertion bar with heel lock form as seen later on the Space Shuttle.

PeterO

From the photos, it appears that the station used a pilot's side hatch (with hinges on the top edge in this orientation), but the mockup used a commander's side hatch (with hinges on the left).

Apollo Redux

Very interesting series.

GACspaceguy

Those are so cool!

garymilgrom

A Gemini hatch on Skylab?! This is so interesting. But even using my home-computer cS-text reading glasses I cannot make out Ed or the hatch - can you post a cropped shot or link to a higher res image Ed?

Thank you - agreed this is another great and unusual look at the "inside" of the NASA's earlier efforts.

heng44

Gary, that is the one photo that I don't have a high-res version of...

ilbasso

There were several photos of the Skylab Gemini hatch for sale on eBay this past week. Unfortunately, I didn't win the items, but I got a few screen grabs...

schnappsicle

While I was at Spacefest 3 last June, I got Tom Stafford to sign an "Angry Alligator" photo. While he was signing it, he showed me a section of the ATDA that they took from his Gemini 6 spacecraft. That was the first time I became aware that they recycled parts at NASA. Apparently they did that a lot.

Was this Gemini hatch part of a flown craft or simply a production overage? I assume it was unused, but you never know.

space1

The ATDA reused the Reentry Control System (RCS) section of Gemini 6. It was replaced with a trainer RCS section.

I don't have any hard facts on what might have been reused on Gemini. But I have noticed that several of them do not have the correct flight type of attitude controller installed. So I strongly suspect it may have been used more than once. I have heard that seats may have been reused. (Gemini 8 currently has trainer seats.)

I don't think the Skylab Gemini hatch was reused, but it could have been.

This is another area that needs more research.

Lou Chinal

I do not believe a Gemini hatch was reused. The backup in the National Air and Space Museum didn't have the beaded construction in the Rene 41 shingles.